Department for Transport

High Speed 2 Line: Wendover

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will place in the Library of the House a copy of the Terms of Reference for the Independent Examination of the mbpc Wendover Mined Tunnel proposal that was commissioned by the Departmentfor Transport on 3 April 2018.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The independent assessment of the Wendover mined tunnel proposal, and its terms of reference, are not intended for publication and are internal to the Department for Transport.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Telephone Services

Lord Birt: To ask Her Majesty's Government whatestimate they have made of (1) the average wait time for callers to DVLA helplines, and (2) the number of callers on average each day who are cut off without a response.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The average wait time for callers to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to speak to an advisor for the week commencing 21 February was 13 minutes 14 seconds.During the same week, the average number of callers each day who received a message saying all lines were busy and asking them to try again later was 32,214.

Cycleways: Construction

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much money they have spent constructing cycle lanes in each of the last five years.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: Local highways authorities are responsible for constructing cycle lanes in their areas. On 7 February 2020, the Department published a detailed breakdown of annual investment in cycling and walking from 2016/17 to 2018/19 alongside the first report on progress made towards delivering the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS). This includes information on how much funding each local authority received over that period for active travel schemes including cycle lanes. The Department aims to publish shortly an update including a breakdown of annual investment in 2019/20 and 2020/21. Copies of the previous report to Parliament and funding breakdowns by local authority covering the years up to 2018/19 are available in the House libraries as well as on gov.uk.Some of the information, such as a breakdown of how much capital funding was provided to each local authority for active travel schemes in 2020/21 under the Active Travel Fund, is already available on gov.uk.

Shipping: Russia

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to prevent Russian (1) registered, or (2) owned, ships from entering or leaving UK ports.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The Secretary of State for Transport wrote to all UK ports on 28 Feb 2022 asking them not to provide access to any Russian flagged, registered, owned, controlled, chartered, or operated vessels.Legislation has followed this and the Government made Regulations (The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) (No.4) Regulations 2022) on 1 March 2022 which restrict any Russian flagged or registered ship, or any ship owned, operated, controlled or chartered by a person connected to Russia, arriving at a UK port. This was a vital measure to take in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine and the Government has acted accordingly.

Cycling: Accidents

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many pedestrians were knocked over by cyclists in each of the last three years; and of those, how many sustained serious injuries.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The Secretary of State for Transport has committed to tackling dangerous cycling by making sure the process for prosecuting dangerous cyclists is more straightforward.The number of reported pedestrian casualties, including seriously injured (adjusted) casualties, in collisions where the pedestrian is hit by a pedal cyclist in each of the last 3 years is shown in the table. The Department does not hold any data on uninjured pedestrians knocked over by pedal cyclists. YearSerious (adjusted)Total pedestrian casualties hit by a pedal cyclist201815448220191344082020103308

Shipping: Russia

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that no employers take action against employees with historical or family links with (1) Ukraine, or (2) Russia, and who have a conscientious objection to working on Russian owned or operated ships within any UK port or pilotage area.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The UK recognises that the current situation in Ukraine may raise additional wellbeing issues for some seafarers.Russian owned or operated vessels are currently prohibited from entering UK ports. In regard to seafarers, Russia has ratified the Maritime Labour Convention and seafarers working on vessels registered with Russia will be protected by its requirements. The Convention provides that notice periods in which an employment agreement may be terminated should be clearly set out. It also requires for provisions to be made where that notice period may be shorter which include for compassionate reasons.

Shipping: Liquefied Natural Gas

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they are providing to increase the number of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) fuelled ships in the UK.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: Natural gas in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG) or compressed natural gas (CNG) offers the potential for large reductions in all air pollutant emissions but limited GHG savings when compared to incumbent fuels (heavy fuel oil, marine diesel oil).Our Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition, launched in March 2021, allocated over £23m of research and development funding to 55 projects across the UK, including projects exploring internal combustion engine technology that is capable of using zero emission fuels like hydrogen, methanol and ammonia. The competition also supports projects on green shipbuilding, placing the UK at the forefront of the design and manufacturing of zero emission vessels.As set out in the Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener (October 2021), we will extend the CMDC to a multi-year programme. We will publish details of any future competitions in due course, including guidance for applicants.

Buses: Driving Tests

Baroness Randerson: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase capacity at testing facilities for bus drivers.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The Department is committed to encouraging new entrants to the bus driving profession. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is working with the Government to implement a number of measures to significantly boost testing availability. These measures include eliminating tests to tow a trailer; streamlining the process of securing a licence for certain vehicles; and speeding up the heavy goods vehicle driving test itself by removing the off-road manoeuvres element (reversing exercise) and allowing it to be assessed separately by the driver training industry. These changes will create an extra 50,000 tests a year.The DVSA has also increased test availability by asking all those qualified to conduct vocational tests, but who do not do so as part of their current day job, to return to conducting tests, and conducting out of hours testing where it can and where there is demand. The DVSA is also offering overtime and annual leave buy back to examiners as well as recruiting an additional 40 new vocational examiners across Great Britain.

Levelling Up Fund: Transport

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government, what assessment they make of the (1) risks, (2) benefits, and (3) timing, when a private sector contribution to a funding bid is offered under the Levelling Up Fund for large transport projects; whether they require the project for which Fund finance is being sought to be delivered through competitive tendering; and where tendering is required, what weighting they give to balancing the outcomes of the tendering processes.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The Department will assess the business cases for all the Levelling Up Fund large transport projects in the same way as we do with other large schemes. This includes an assessment of the risks, benefits and timing of the proposed scheme. The proposed method of procurement will also be assessed; however, procurement is the responsibility of the scheme promoter. Any private sector contribution will need to be underwritten by the scheme promoter.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Energy Supply

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the (1) security, and (2) cost, of energy, in light of the hostilities in Ukraine.

Lord Callanan: The Government remains confident that Great Britain’s energy security will be maintained. The Government works closely with Ofgem, National Grid Gas and other key industry organisations to monitor gas supply and demand, and the National Grid Electricity System Operator has the tools it needs to operate the electricity system reliably. In the past 5 years the UK has met nearly half of its annual gas supply through domestic production, with most imports coming from reliable suppliers such as Norway. Less than 4% of our gas was sourced directly from Russia in 2021. The Government has experienced gas prices at historic highs reflecting a number of market fundamentals, but also the current uncertain geopolitical situation. The Government is working closely with key international and industry partners to monitor gas supply and demand, and remains confident that Great Britain’s energy security will be maintained.

Solar Power: Land Use

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the area of land that has been used in England for the installation of solar panels in each of the last five years.

Lord Callanan: The Government does not hold information on the area of land in England used for solar installations. Further information is available on GOV.UK.

Storms: Electricity

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to improve the resilience of overhead line transmission of electricity to storm outages; and what steps they intend to take to achieve greater resilience.

Lord Callanan: The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy works closely with the National Grid Electricity System Operator, energy infrastructure operators, and the regulator Ofgem to assess the appropriate level of current and future resilience to key assets and infrastructure. Overhead lines are considered as part of a range of options in infrastructure planning.

Working Hours

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the benefits of a shorter working week.

Lord Callanan: Individuals and employers working together should be able to decide what flexible working arrangements work best for them. The Government’s consultation and accompanying impact assessment on “making flexible working the default” showed there are benefits associated with all kinds of flexible working arrangements. These benefits include reduced vacancy costs; increased skill retention; enhanced business performance; and reduced staff absenteeism rates. Our consultation closed on 1st December 2021. We are currently reviewing the responses and will respond in due course.

Energy: Costs

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to reintroduce the Zero Carbon Homes policy to helpreduce household energy bills.

Lord Callanan: The Government has no plans to reintroduce the Zero Carbon Homes policy. Instead, when it is implemented in 2025, the Future Homes Standard (FHS) will ensure new homes are zero carbon ready, with high energy efficiency and low carbon heat. Under the FHS, New homes will producing at least 75% lower CO2 emissions compared to current standards and will require no further retrofit to become fully zero carbon as the electricity grid continues to decarbonise. We have also recently implemented an uplift to the Building Regulations as an important stepping-stone to the FHS. When the uplift comes into force in June 2022, new homes will produce 30% less CO2 compared to the current standard.

Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund

Lord Allen of Kensington: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much of the £683 millionRetail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund has been paid to claimants; how many claimants have been paid; and what is the mode average amount paid to each claimant.

Lord Callanan: Since the start of the pandemic, the Government has delivered an unprecedented package of support for business. Nearly £27 billion has been allocated to Local Authorities for the provision of grants for businesses in England. In response to the Omicron variant, BEIS used the latest business property data from the Valuation Office Agency to make available £635 million for Local Authorities to support the hospitality, leisure and accommodation sectors, via the Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant (OHLG) Local Authorities received OHLG funds by the second week of January 2022, and have so far reported to Government that 22,952 payments have been made by 30 January 2022. (This does not indicate the number of businesses but the number of premises.) Local Authorities report to Government that £79 million has been paid out so far in OHLG grants. Government does not publish individual payment details but the mean average payment is £3,457 Regarding the Small Business Grant Fund (SBGF) and the Retail Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund (RHLGF), Local Authorities reported to Government that they had distributed £11.1 billion to businesses. As recorded by 30 September 2020, 906,673 business premises (not the number of unique businesses) in all English Local Authorities had received grants across the two schemes. The mean average payment as reported by Local Authorities was £12,268 for the RHLGF and SBGF schemes combined. This is the average for each payment as reported, not necessarily the average each claimant received if some claimants received more than one payment. The SBGF and RHLGF schemes closed in August 2020. A full breakdown of grant funding allocated to, and distributed by, each Local Authority, is available on Gov.UK.

Bicycles and Electric Scooters: Batteries

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byBaroness Vere of Norbiton on 11 February (HL5915), what steps the Office of Product Safety and Standards are taking to ensure that lithium ion batteries used in (1) e-bikes, (2) e-scooters, and (3) other mobility aids, are safe; what (a) national, (b) European, or (c) other standards, inform decisions on whether to permit their use in such vehicles, and whether they will publish the (i) battery types, and (ii) manufacturers, which are not permitted for use in such vehicles.

Lord Callanan: The UK Government is committed to ensuring that consumers are protected from unsafe goods. The General Product Safety Regulations 2005, and other product regulations, place obligations on manufacturers to ensure the safety of consumer goods including the batteries used to power them. Manufacturers need to ensure that all products supplied meet the relevant product safety regulations before being placed on the market. In doing so, they may choose to apply standard EN 62133-2 which specifies requirements and safety tests necessary for the safe operation, including foreseeable misuse, of portable sealed secondary lithium cells and batteries. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) does not maintain a list of approved batteries for use in such vehicles, as the responsibility for the selection of such components rests with the manufacturer. However, OPSS works with Local Authorities and border authorities to help ensure that products imported and sold in the UK are safe and that action is taken against those who place unsafe or non-compliant products on the market, including their removal from the market.

Cabinet Office

Public Sector

Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top: To ask Her Majesty's Government which Cabinet committees are responsible for (1) the recovery of public services following the COVID-19 pandemic, and (2) co-ordinating the delivery of public services across Government; and which Ministers chair these committees.

Lord True: There are a number of Cabinet Committees that could take issues related to public service delivery and recovery. These include, for example; the Domestic and Economic (Operations), the Government Priorities Delivery Committee, Covid-19 Operations, the Health Promotion Taskforce and the Crime and Justice Taskforce. All of these are listed on GOV.UK along with their membership and Terms of Reference. This list of Cabinet Committees on GOV.UK is updated regularly.It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its Committees, and how often they have met, is not normally shared publicly.

Infrastructure: Reviews

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they last undertook a review of critical infrastructure, including electricity substations and their resilience to the threat of flooding; and how frequently such reviews are undertaken.

Lord True: Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) in the UK, including the energy sector, is subject to thorough scrutiny and sectors need to satisfy stringent sectoral regulatory and national security requirements. Sector Security and Resilience Plans (SSRPs) are produced annually by the 13 CNI sectors, this assurance process asks Lead Government Departments to detail the activity ongoing in their sectors to improve security and resilience to a host of risks, including those from the National Security Risk Assessment such as flooding. For the energy sector specifically, the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) independently oversees and enforces the UK’s energy regulatory regime. A large portion of the UK’s CNI is in private sector hands, and the Government works continuously with CNI owners and operators to support and ensure the security and resilience of their sites and systems. This approach ensures sectors prepare for a range of both malicious risks (threats) and non-malicious risks (hazards), including that of flooding. The Environment Agency is working with national infrastructure providers and government departments to improve planning for current and future flood risks. This work forms one of the main themes within the Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy for England.

Kaspersky: National Security

Lord Blunkett: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the risk posed to national security by using products supplied by the Russian cyber security business Kaspersky.

Lord True: The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), as the UK’s cyber security authority, frequently publishes advice to help individuals and organisations make informed, risk based decisions on the provider they use.In 2017, the NCSC published specific guidance on managing the risk of cloud-enabled products - https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/blog-post/managing-supply-chain-risk-cloud-enabled-products - and in particular recommended that audio visual equipment sourced from Russian companies should not be used on government systems dealing with national security matters.

Lord Ahmed

Lord Lexden: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to bring forward legislation to provide for the rescinding of the peerage held by Lord Ahmed.

Lord True: Nazir Ahmed retired from the House of Lords as a result of a complaint before the House of Lords Conduct Committee in 2020, which recommended he be expelled from the House. He is therefore no longer a member of the House of Lords, retains no privileges and may not return.Whilst Peers may voluntarily stop using their titles, there is currently no formal mechanism for revoking their titles, which would require bespoke primary legislation. The Government currently has no plans to bring forward such legislation.The Government is firmly committed to tackling all forms of child sexual abuse, whether it takes place online or in families, institutions or communities, here in this country or overseas.

Electronic Surveillance

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have (1) to ban the deployment of the spyware tool Pegasus, and (2) to set up an inquiry into its impact on the UK.

Lord True: It is essential that nation states and other cyber actors use capabilities in a way that is legal, responsible and proportionate, and to ensure cyberspace remains free, open, peaceful and secure. The UK and its allies are committed to ensuring key technologies are not misused in a way that threatens human rights and, as such, it is right that their trade is appropriately controlled. We continue to promote with our international partners the need for tighter export controls to ensure cyber capabilities are used legally and responsibly, and do not threaten or undermine human rights. Unauthorised access to a computer system to upload spyware, such as Pegasus, would be likely to constitute an offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. Our national security framework is one of the most robust and transparent in Europe. One of the key pieces of legislation is the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 which sets out the regulatory framework for authorising such conduct. Any such conduct requires a warrant, which provides assurance that the conduct/access is authorised, necessary and proportionate.

Department of Health and Social Care

Coronavirus: Medical Treatments

Lord Lansley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide pre-exposure prophylaxis against COVID-19 to the most vulnerable groups who are severely immunocompromised.

Lord Kamall: The Department is exploring prophylactic use of antivirals for the immunocompromised and evidence continues to be reviewed for potential use in the National Health Service.The RAPID C-19 collaboration considers national and international trial evidence as it emerges for COVID-19 therapies, for potential treatment and prophylactic indications.Later this spring, a post-exposure prophylaxis sub-study is expected as part of the PANORAMIC national study to investigate the effect of prescribing oral antivirals to those who are a household contact of a COVID-19 positive individual. In addition, the PROTECT-V study is trialling sotrovimab and niclosamide as prophylactic drugs administered over a six-month period in vulnerable renal and immunosuppressed patients.

Integrated Care Boards: Recruitment

Baroness Jolly: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessmentthey havemade of the merits of appointing named board-level officers with responsibility for innovation to Integrated Care Boards.

Baroness Jolly: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to incentivise Integrated Care Systems to appoint a named individual with responsibility for innovation to (1) Integrated Care Boards, or (2) Integrated Care Board committees.

Lord Kamall: No assessment has been made of the merits of appointing named board-level officers with responsibility for innovation. Integrated care boards (ICBs) should have the flexibility to design the membership to meet its needs, while ensuring the appropriate skills and experience necessary to properly discharge their functions.The Government’s amendment to the Health and Care Bill would require the ICB to consider the skills, knowledge and experience it needs and mitigate against any gaps in expertise, including in its duty to promote innovation.

Medical Equipment: Innovation

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the publication by NICE of NICE healthy technology evaluations: the manual on 22 January, how they plan to define “sufficient evidence” while recognising that in early-stage development and “true” innovation there may not be a comparator for evidential purpose.

Lord Kamall: There is no plan to define sufficient evidence. Decisions on whether there is sufficient evidence to recommend a technology as clinically and cost effective are taken by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in line with its established methods and processes and through consultation with interested parties.Where there is uncertainty, NICE is able to recommend the most promising new cancer medicines for use through the Cancer Drugs Fund, which supports patient access while further information is collected on effectiveness to inform a future decision on routine funding. NICE and NHS England and NHS Improvement have recently consulted on proposals to create an Innovative Medicines Fund that will extend the Cancer Drugs Fund model to non-cancer drugs.

Eating Disorders

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the prevalence of eating disorders; and what plans they have to increase resources to treat them.

Lord Kamall: The number of children and young people entering urgent treatment for an eating disorder increased by 73% in 2020/21, compared to 2019/20. The Health Survey England 2019 showed that 16% of adults aged over 16 years old screened positive for a possible eating disorder.We are investing approximately £1 billion in community mental health care for adults with severe mental illness by 2023/24. This will allow 370,000 adults with severe mental illnesses, including eating disorders, greater choice and control over their care and support them to live well in their communities.Since 2016, investment in children and young people's community eating disorder services has increased each year, with an additional £53 million per year from 2021/22. This will enhance the capacity of the 70 new or improved community eating disorder teams. Additional funding has been provided this year for adult and children and young people’s eating disorder services through the £500 million Mental Health Recovery Action Plan.

Doctors: Pensions

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have madeof the impact of the changes to the annual allowance for pensions in terms of (1) clinical hours worked, and (2) early retirement of senior doctors, over the past 10 years.

Lord Kamall: Since an individual may choose to reduce their working hours or take early retirement for a range of reasons it is not possible to isolate the impact of any single factor such as pension tax. We continue to monitor retirement patterns and hours worked by senior doctors.The available evidence does not suggest any substantial change in consultant working hours. NHS Digital’s workforce statistics show the participation rate or average contracted hours per person has been stable for several years. Data from the NHS Business Services Authority, which administers the NHS Pension Scheme, shows that the number of consultants taking voluntary early retirement as a proportion of all consultant retirements has increased since 2012, although it has not changed significantly in more recent years.The NHS Pension Scheme and well-remunerated careers mean that some senior doctors will amass a pension in excess of their allowances for tax-free pension saving. In 2020, the Government increased thresholds by £90,000 to remove all staff with threshold income below £200,000 from scope of the tapered annual allowance. An estimated 96% of general practitioners and 98% of consultants are out of scope of the taper based on their National Health Service earnings.

Healthy Start Scheme

Baroness Boycott: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to establish an automatic opt-in to Healthy Start vouchers via (1) doctors surgeries, and (2) other points of contact, for those receiving benefits who are (a) pregnant, or (b) have young children; and if so, when they intend to implement such plans.

Lord Kamall: All applicants must apply to the Healthy Start scheme in line with legislation, where they meet the eligibility criteria. All successful applicants must also agree to the terms and conditions of the new pre-paid card prior to receiving it. The NHS Business Services Authority is therefore unable to automatically enrol all families onto the Healthy Start scheme.

Healthy Start Scheme

Baroness Boycott: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to enable recipients of Healthy Start coupons to use their prepaid cards online to purchase items that are covered by the scheme.

Lord Kamall: All beneficiaries with a prepaid card can use it in all retailers which accept Mastercard payments and sell the permitted Healthy Start food items. There are no current plans to extend this online.

Department for Education

Higher Education: Overseas Students

Lord Johnson of Marylebone: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps the Office for Students is taking to improvesurvey response rates to questions relating to the destinations of international students graduating from higher education institutions in England.

Lord Johnson of Marylebone: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the additional cost to theOffice for Students of collecting information on the progression of international students to (1) graduate employment, or (2) further study, by telephone, when responses have not been received by email.

Baroness Barran: Action 6 of the International Education Strategy 2021 update focuses on the employability of international students. Sector representatives are collaborating to build an understanding of the UK’s skills needs, international labour markets, and barriers to international graduate employability. They will also share examples of best practice across the sector.The department supports these efforts by expanding data resources available in relation to international student graduate outcomes. My noble Friend will be aware from recent answers to Questions HL5793 and HL5795 that the department now publishes employment and study outcomes one, three, five, and ten years after graduation for all international students who remain in the UK after study and contribute to the UK economy.Graduate outcomes surveys are carried out by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). This includes international graduates surveys. In response to my right hon. Friend, the Minister for Higher and Further Education’s announcements on reducing bureaucracy for the higher education sector in September 2020 and lowering the cost to providers of participating in HESA data collections, there has been some scaling back of HESA’s graduate outcomes survey methodology. This impacts 2020/21 academic year graduates. The survey will be published in spring 2023.Non-EU international graduates will continue to participate in the survey. The process of contacting international graduates by telephone, if they have not already participated online, is discontinued. This has resulted in a lowering of the subscription cost of graduate outcomes to higher education providers by approximately £350,000. HESA continues to explore and implement strategies aimed at increasing online response rates.The value of the HESA graduate outcomes survey data is not solely determined by its response rates. The current response rate target for the survey of international graduates is at 20%. This is high for social surveys. Over the last three years, the survey has achieved on average a 30% response rate for this group. This is 5 percentage points above the previous target. Around half of these responses were collected over the telephone.Conclusions drawn on the international graduate outcomes will be driven by how representative the students who respond to the survey are of the overall student population. The Office for Students intends to undertake research looking at the outcomes for international students. It will re-introduce telephone contact, should it significantly impact the conclusions that can be drawn from the data.

National Tutoring Programme: Private Education

Lord Lexden: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks byBaroness Barran on 24 February (HL Deb col 340), what plans they have to involve independent schools in the National Tutoring Programme.

Baroness Barran: The National Tutoring Programme is delivered using high-quality tutoring organisations that have been selected against a robust set of criteria, including ‘safeguarding’, ‘understanding schools working and challenges’, and ‘excellence in delivery’, following applications from hundreds of organisations. Further information on these criteria is available here: https://nationaltutoring.org.uk/tuition-partners/.As well as working through established tutoring providers, the programme is happy to accept applications from other organisations, for example, associations of independent schools, who meet the necessary criteria.Following feedback from schools, funding has also been provided directly to state-funded schools so that they can use their own staff for tutoring. Potential tutors are required to be qualified teachers or undertake bespoke training. Schools may engage tutors from their local networks, including from independent schools through new or pre-existing partnership arrangements.

Higher Education: Finance

Baroness Deech: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the speech by the Minister for Higher and Further Education on 24 February regarding their response to Dr Philip Augar'sReview of Post-18 Education and Funding, published in May 2019, what assessment they have made of the impact on their (1) social mobility policy, and (2) Levelling Up policy, of (a) the decision not to restore maintenance grants for university students, and (b) the extension of the tuition fee loan repayment period.

Baroness Barran: This government is committed to levelling up and true social mobility. Our higher education (HE) reforms will help ensure that students are doing courses that give them the skills and knowledge to move into high-value employment that benefits both them and our dynamic economy. The HE system must be supported to do this, which is why we are putting in almost £900 million of new investment into HE over the next three years, including the largest increase in government funding for the sector to support students and teaching in over a decade.Our changes to student loans will make the system more sustainable and fairer for students and taxpayers, while continuing to enable anyone with the ability and the ambition to benefit from HE to do so. There will be up to £75 million to deliver a new national state scholarship to support high-achieving disadvantaged students. We have previously announced that maximum maintenance loans will be increased by 2.3% in academic year 2022/23, following a 3.1% increase in 2021/22, taking the support available for the lowest-income students to record levels in cash terms.A full assessment of the impacts of the HE reform policies and proposals, including changes to student loans and their regional impacts, has been conducted and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reform-equality-impact-assessment.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Wood-burning Stoves

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ban the (1) installation, (2) sale, and (3) use, of wood-burning stoves in private dwellings, in either (a) rural, or (b) urban, areas.

Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: We currently have no plans to introduce a ban on the installation, sale or use of wood-burning stoves in private dwellings. Woodburning stoves are subject to strict controls in terms of emissions of air pollutants and some households in rural areas rely on the use of these appliances to heat their homes. In Smoke Control Areas woodburning stoves use must comply with the relevant legislation restricting smoke emissions. The recently introduced Environment Act 2021 will make it easier for local authorities to enforce these requirements. Outside of these areas, from 1 January 2022, all new solid fuel burning stoves entering the market must adhere to specific air quality standards and in October 2020 we introduced new legislation to phase out the most polluting fuels used for domestic combustion with most measures coming into force on 1 May 2021.

Home Office

Asylum: Afghanistan

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many adults and children have arrived in the UK seeking asylum from Afghanistan since August 2021;and of these, (1) how many are still waiting to be housed, and (2) how many children are still waiting to be enrolled at a school.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The UK Government undertook the biggest and fastest emergency evacuation in recent history, helping over 15,000 people to safety from Afghanistan. Due to the scale and pace of the evacuation we were not able to source appropriate accommodation in the normal way, so we have had to use hotels as a temporary measure. There are currently over 12,000 individuals from Afghanistan in bridging hotels. This cohort is made up of British and Afghan Nationals who may be eligible for Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) or Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS). Over 4000 Afghans have already moved, or are in the process of being moved, into their permanent accommodation and we are working at pace with our Local Authority partners to secure permanent accommodation for those still in temporary accommodation. We are providing £12 million to help councils across the country to provide education services for children arriving from Afghanistan living in temporary accommodation.Working with local councils and other networks, all of the school age children who arrived as part of Operation Pitting have been offered a school place. However, this remains a moving picture as some new bridging hotels have been opened in new areas, both as a result of hotel moves and to accommodate more recent Afghan arrivals via Pakistan.The Department for Education (DfE) continues to monitor the position in these local authorities, all are progressing well with the process of placing children in schools and none report problems with doing so, however they are at different stages in the process depending on the date of new arrivals.

Deportation: Zimbabwe

Lord Oates: To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they will give to the (1) political, and (2) human rights, situation in Zimbabwe when determining whether to go ahead with the planned deportation of Zimbabwe nationals on 2 March.

Lord Oates: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether all of the Zimbabwean nationals they intend to remove from the UK on 2 March have been convicted of a criminal offence; and whether any of them have been convicted only of an immigration offence.

Lord Oates: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any of those facing deportation to Zimbabwe on 2 March were British citizens whose citizenship has subsequently been revoked; and if so, what were the reasons in each case.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: We do not comment on individual cases, but I can confirm that we only ever return those who the Home Office and, where applicable, the courts are satisfied do not need our protection and who have no legal basis to remain in the UK. By definition, they do not need protection and not at risk on return.Individuals being returned have had the opportunity to raise claims, including protection and modern slavery claims prior to their deportation or administrative removal. All claims raised will be fully considered and decided – we would not remove someone where there were outstanding claims or concerns. Each case is considered sensitively, appropriately and on its individual merits. All available evidence is carefully and sensitively considered against a background of relevant case law and in light of published country information, which covers country specific issues. Our country policy and information notes are published on the gov.uk website. They are kept under constant review and updated periodically.Since January 2019 we have returned 10,017 foreign national offenders (FNOs) and since April 2020, we have utilised over 110 charter flights to deport FNOs and other immigration offenders to countries across Europe and around the rest of the world.The Home Office publishes data on the number of returns from the UK, by nationality, including Zimbabwe, in the Immigration statistics quarterly release which can also be found on gov.uk.

US Department of Homeland Security

Lord Mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have benchmarked the way that that the list of those selected for enhanced security checks by US Homeland Security at UK sites is compiled; and whether they have compared this with any other countries in which US Homeland Security has the right to require such checks in their sovereign territory.

Lord Mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish the (1) arrangements granted, and (2) facilities given, to the United States Department of Homeland Security to conduct security checks at airports on UK sovereign territory.

Lord Mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have received complaints about how the United States Department of Homeland Security conducts the selection of travellers for additional security checks by and on behalf of United States authorities; and if so, how many complaints they have received.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: Further to the answer at HL6289 and HL6290 the CBP officers hold no authority in the UK, conduct no formal checks and can only advise airline staff. The decision whether or not to board a passenger rests with the airline. The last recorded complaint was in 2016.We do not publish the specific details of the arrangement with the Department of Homeland Security for operational reasons.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Regulator of Social Housing

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to further strengthen therole of the Regulator of Social Housing to help regulate the exempt accommodation sector.

Lord Greenhalgh: The Charter for Social Housing Residents: the Social Housing White Paper, published in November 2020, set out how the Government will transform the regulation of social housing to deliver a better deal for tenants. The White Paper set out a broad package of reforms to enable the Regulator of Social Housing to introduce robust, proactive regulation of consumer issues such as safety, transparency and tenant engagement, alongside the existing economic regulation regime. These changes will ensure social housing landlords will be held to account for delivery of good quality services to tenants.The White Paper also included measures to respond to problems that have arisen in certain parts of the social housing sector, Some of which will include where exempt accommodation is provided. These include introducing a “look through power” to better investigate the dealings of registered providers with bodies outside the regulated sector; changing the definition of what a “non-profit” provider really is; and ensuring that the Regulator is notified when control of a registered provider changes.While not all exempt accommodation is social housing, these powers will support the Regulator of Social Housing to do its job even more effectively for those landlords that are registered with it.The Regulator has already taken action against 23 lease-based providers of specialised supported housing. The Government fully supports action to ensure landlords are providing safe, secure and decent accommodation.In addition, the Government is committed to resolving these issues within the sector. My department has provided £5.4 million to five local authorities (Birmingham, Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Bristol and Hull) to test ways of improving quality and value for money in supported housing in year-long pilots. The pilots in September 2021 and the findings will be published in due course, along with a summary of best practice from the pilots. We are also considering what further action may be needed and I have not ruled out legislative options to regulate the sector.Supporting the most vulnerable people in our society continues to be a priority for the Government and I’m committed to continue to raising standards in the sector.

Northern Ireland Office

United Kingdom

Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown: To ask Her Majesty's Government what further steps they are taking to strengthen the union between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Lord Caine: This Government is steadfastly committed to Northern Ireland’s integral place in the United Kingdom, on the basis of consent, and will never be neutral on the Union.We aim to strengthen the Union by making Northern Ireland a better place to live and work for all parts of the community, and by building a stronger, more shared and inclusive society.Through our ‘Levelling Up’ agenda, a record financial settlement for Northern Ireland in the spending review, with an average of £15 billion funding per year and the support provided throughout the pandemic sustaining more than 370,000 jobs, we are demonstrating that all of our United Kingdom remains better together than it would ever be apart.There can be no doubt that Northern Ireland benefits from the strength and security of being part of the world's fifth largest economy, and the Government will continue to deliver for the whole of the United Kingdom so that we may further strengthen our precious Union.

Treasury

Bank of England Asset Purchase Facility Fund

Lord Tyrie: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost to the Exchequer of the Bank of England raising interest rates by one per cent, in order to meet the Government’s commitment under the Asset Purchase Facility’s deed of indemnity.

Baroness Penn: At the 2021 Autumn Budget, the Office of Budget Responsibility estimated that a one percentage point increase in Bank Rate and short-term interest rates at the beginning of 2022-23 would increase debt interest costs by £9.1bn in 2026/27, the final year of the forecast. This includes the impact via the Asset Purchase Facility as well as other short-term liabilities such as Treasury bills.

Bank of England Asset Purchase Facility Fund

Lord Tyrie: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will publish the Asset Purchase Facility's deed of indemnity.

Baroness Penn: The Asset Purchase Facility (APF) deed indemnity will not be published. HM Treasury indemnifies the APF which means that any losses or gains from the APF accrue to HM Treasury. This is public knowledge and the publication of the deed of indemnity will not advance the public’s understanding of that arrangement. Furthermore, the indemnity contains operationally sensitive information which should not be made public.